Polish Grammar - Genitive Case - Masculine
So we know how to spot if we are in the genetive case and, if we are, what changes to make for feminine nouns and their adjectives. What about masculine nouns?
Masculine Animate nouns (things which are alive) and their adjectives are exactly the same as they are in the Accusitive case.
- Nouns - add an 'a': To jest kot - Nie mam kota
- Adjectives - change the ending from 'y' to 'ego': To jest dobry kot - Nie mam dobrego kota
For Masculine non-animate nouns the only difference is that we add a 'u' instead of an 'a' to the noun
- To jest dobry raport - Nie mam dobrego raportu
There are two very common phrases that will remind you of the 'u' ending in the Genetive case:
- I don't have time - Nie mam czasu
- No problem - Nie ma problemu
The second phrase literally means "It doesn't have a problem" but is used to say 'No problem' to someone when they are thanking you for helping them.
Listen out for and remember these phrases because it will help you remember:
- Verbs being used negatively put you in the Genetive case
- The 'u' ending on masculine nouns in the Genetive case
Spend some time to get comfortable with:
- Identifying the gender of nouns
- Spotting the Genitive case
Don't panic about getting this right in your spoken Polish - everyone will understand you if you use the wrong case. But start practicing it with the excercises here and in your written work. Soon enough it will spill over into your spoken Polish!
Let's add these endings into our table that we started earlier.
Adjectives and Cases
Sort these masculine nouns (in their Genitive form) into animate and non-animate nouns.
Drag and drop all the dark blue boxes to their correct locations
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Think out the Polish
Practice spotting animate and non-animate nouns and changing the adjective and noun endings if needed.
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I do not have time | |
No problem | (it has no problem)
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You do not have a professional doctor | |
You do not have a good hotel | |
I do not have an electrical problem | |
I do not like conventional sport | |
I do not want a normal telephone | |
I do not have a good (male) cat | (kot)
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I do not like an emotional (male) artist | (artyst)
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I do not want a new scandal | |
You do not want a virtual assistant | |
You do not have a legal document | |
Changing nouns to genetive
The exercise below includes some words you do not know but you can still practice changing them to genetive.
The nominative case of the noun is shown beside the text input box in brackets. Write the full sentence using the Genetive case.
For example, the first sentence is 'I do not want a ticket'. The Polish for 'ticket' is 'bilet' so the correct answer is 'Nie chcę biletu'Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I do not want a ticket | (bilet)
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I do not have a son | (syn)
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I do not like jazz | (jazz)
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You do not want a bicycle | (rower)
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I do not have a boyfriend | (chłopak)
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You do not like rain | (deszcz)
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I do not have a shop | (sklep)
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I do not want a pen | (długopis)
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You do not have a passport | (paszport)
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I do not like the forest | (las)
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I do not have internet | (internet)
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I do not want a present | (prezent)
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You do not have a boss | (szef)
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I do not like wind | (wiatr)
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You do not like the government | (rząd)
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Changing nouns and adjectives to genetive
Now repeat a similar exercise but with adjectives.
The nominative case of the noun and adjective is shown beside the text input box in brackets. Write the full sentence using the Genetive case.
For example, the first sentence is 'I do not want a different ticket'. The Polish for 'different ticket' is 'inny bilet' so the correct answer is 'Nie chcę innego biletu'Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I do not want a different ticket | (inny bilet)
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I do want another a son | (kolejny syn)
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I do not like new jazz | (nowy jazz)
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You do not want an old bicycle | (stary rower)
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I do not have a new boyfriend | (mody chłopak)
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You do not like cold rain | (zimny deszcz)
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I do not have a new shop | (nowy sklep)
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I do not want an old pen | (stary długopis)
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You do not have a new passport | (nowy paszport)
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I do not like the old forest | (stary las)
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I do not have good internet | (dobry internet)
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I do not want a different present | (inny prezent)
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You do not have a good boss | (dobry szef)
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I do not like cold wind | (zimny wiatr)
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You do not like the new government | (nowy rząd)
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Transfer Genetive nouns back to nominative
In the following exercise you'll see some sentences in both English and Polish. You need to spot the noun and adjective and reverse them back into the Nominative case.
For example, the first sentence is 'Nie lubię starego jazzu'. So the answer, in the Nominative case is 'stary jazz'
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
I do not like old jazz | Nie lubię starego jazzu
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I do not want a new boyfriend | Nie chcę nowego chłopaka
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I do not have a good bicycle | Nie mam dobrego roweru
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You do not like the new boss | Nie lubisz nowego szefa
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You do not have an old forest | Nie masz starego lasu
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I do not like the new government | Nie lubię nowego rządu
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I do not have a different present | Nie mam innego prezentu
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You do not want an old pen | Nie chcesz starego długopisu
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I do not want a new boss | Nie chcę nowego szefa
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I do not like cold wind | Nie lubię zimnego wiatru
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You do not have good internet | Nie masz dobrego internetu
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I do not like cold rain | Nie lubię zimnego deszczu
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Refresher
Revise earlier words and phrases to keep them fresh! Match the Polish and Engish below
Make sure your sound is turned on to hear the audio during this exercise
Nouns
Tick all of the adjectives which are masculine genetive
Tick all of the boxes you believe are correct